European windstorm
A European windstorm is a severe cyclonic windstorm associated with areas of low atmospheric pressure that track across the North Atlantic towards northwestern Europe. They are most common in the winter months. Deep low pressure areas are relatively common over the North Atlantic, sometimes starting as nor'easters off the New England coast, and frequently track past the north coasts of the British Isles onto the Norwegian Sea. However, when they veer south they can affect almost any country in Europe. Commonly-affected countries include Britain, Ireland, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland, but any country in central, northern and especially western Europe is occasionally struck by such a storm system. These storms cause economic damage of €1.9 billion per year, and insurance losses of €1.4 billion per year (1990–1998). They rank as the second highest cause of global natural catastrophe insurance loss (after U.S. hurricanes). Names Up to the second half of the 19th century, European windstorms were named after the person who spotted it. Usually, they would be named either by the year, the date, the Saint's day of their occurrence or any other way that made them commonly known. This has meant that the same storm could be named differently from one country to another. Inspired by the practice of the U.S. National Weather Service to assign names to hurricanes and typhoons, a student at the Free University of Berlin (FU), Karla Wege, suggested in 1954 that all high- and low-pressure systems affecting Europe should be given names in order to make tracking the systems simpler. Lows were given female names and highs male names, and the names of notable extratropical cyclones were retired after each event. This practice was soon adopted by the German media. In 1998 the system changed to alternating male and female names for highs and lows each year. In November 2002 the "Adopt-a-Vortex" scheme was started, which allows members of the public to buy names that will then be assigned to storms during each year. The money raised by this is used by the meteorology department to maintain weather observations at the Free University. The FU names became gradually known across Europe through the media. Even though these are not sanctioned by any official organizations, like the World Meteorological Organization, they are commonly used. However, a storm may still be named differently in different country. For instance, the Norwegian weather service also names independently notable storms that affect Norway. Several European languages use the word Ouragan or cognates thereof (Huragan, Orcan, Orkan) to indicate particularly strong European windstorms. This is not in reference to the tropical cyclone of the same name but to the Hurricane strength of the wind in the Beaufort scale (winds ≥ 118 km/h or ≥ 73 mph). List Historic and notorious European storms Severe European windstorms between 1900 and 1999 Severe European windstorms since 2000 See also ;Wind scales * Beaufort scale (10-12 and up) * Fujita scale * Saffir-Simpson scale ;Severe weather * Extratropical cyclone ** Nor'easter ** Great Gale ** Great Storm ;Localized windstorms * Foehn References External links * Great weather events: the UK east coast floods of 1953 * FU-Berlin name lists Category:European Windstorms